Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2004-09-29 15:33
Piper -
The Klose exercise is about in the middle of part 3 in my book. It's a two-page exercise in thirds that goes around all the major and minor keys. Klose says "I consider this exercise as one of the most important.
As to mastering the scales, there's no short cut. I described the way that worked for me at http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=24907&t=24731, which involves isolating each change and working it out individually.
If you're a member of the IDRS, read Allan Vogel's wonderful description of his studies with Fernand Gillet (principal in Boston), Lothar Koch (Principal in Berlin) and Robert Bloom (principal in the NBC Symphony) http://idrs.colorado.edu/Publications/Journal/JNL6/vogel.html. Vogel describes Gillet's method of working out difficult passages:
You practice each difficult change between two notes, going very slowly, getting each change crisp and perfect. Never go fast, and never permit yourself to make even the slightest bobble. If you do bobble, practice the finger movement without playing, to get the movements perfectly aligned and simultaneous, and then play even slower.
Go so slow that you have plenty of time to think about what the next note is, visualize the change, and then do it perfectly. This gives you the experience of perfection and trains your muscle memory.
You then put the practice "cells" aside and let them "cook" for three days, so that each perfect change becomes automatic, and part of your muscle memory. If you were to play the passage fast, and should there be some imperfection, this would be tantamount to throwing something rotten into the pot just before allowing it to simmer for a few days. Gillet said, "You can destroy in thirty seconds what you have done in thirty minutes."
Going slowly engraves the change into your muscle memory just as effectively as going fast.
This advice is pure gold, from one of the greatest players and teachers in history.
Your assignment, then, is to work out the passage as Gillet taught. Begin with each difficult interval. Then start putting the groups of two notes together, playkng three notes at a time, then four, and so on.
It's really, REALLY difficult to discipline yourself to "never practice faster than perfect," but it's the best and maybe the only way to perfect your technique.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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